A couple of years ago I was looking to buy an arcade machine and a reader contacted me letting me know they had a few for sale. I was hoping to find either NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat I or II, Killer Instinct, the original Daytona or the original Sega Rally but sadly they didn’t have any of those games and I completely forgot about the whole thing. Then out of the blue around two weeks back the subject came back up and I ended up contacting the guy and passing by to check out what he had.

Turns out I actually knew the person since he used to be based in Burj Al Abyad (White Tower next to Marina Mall) back in the 90s when the arcade scene there was pretty big. He took me to their warehouse and I got to check out all the machines they had available.

They didn’t have any of the games I wanted but I figured I’d get the list (and their prices) so I could post them here on my blog. Some of the games are a good deal others seem a bit pricy (KD750 for Sega Rally 2 although it’s with the full moving cockpit) while others like the NeoGeo/Capcom machines are a steal at just KD75 with two games.

One thing that’s not listed in the price list above is the NeoGeo/Capcom cabinets. They have two kinds of cabinets, one that holds 2 games and another that holds 4. They’re selling the machine that holds 2 games for KD75 and the machine that holds 4 for KD100. This price includes the games.

The local arcade scene was never really huge in Kuwait but it had a presence with places like Showbiz and Burj al Abyad catering to the gaming crowd. Even though the arcade scene is pretty dead world wide they still do have a cult following and in Kuwait we still have a few places that have new games or still have old machines. Yousef from the blog yousefq8.com created a small Kuwait Arcade Database with information on the current arcade locations around Kuwait along with some information on their condition and what type of games they have. I thought that was a pretty cool idea although I would personally like to see the database include a full list of all the machines at every location. Still it’s a nice idea and if you’re interested to check it out check it out on his blog [Here]

Two Kuwaiti guys have created an iPhone game called Negooshi which revolves around a kid who takes revenge on some school bullies by using a slingshot. I found the controls a bit difficult to use and the menu system hard to navigate and understand but I liked the Kuwaiti voice overs and the fact that the game is localized. If you’re interested, Negooshi costs $1.99 and is available in the iPhone store right now. [Link]

I was invited by X-Cite and Sony to attend a preview of the Playstation Vita in Dubai. The even would give us an intro on their new portable gaming console as well as preview some games and more importantly allows to play with the device.

Introduction The GM of Sony MENA, Robert Fisser stated that the Vita will have the strongest line up of launch games for a Sony console which is possible since the first party and third party games lined up for the Vita’s February 22nd launch is fairly strong.

When you purchase a Vita among the included items will be 56 WAAR (Wide-Area Augmented Reality) cards that you’ll be able to use with AR (augmented reality) games which you’ll be able to download for free from the PSN store. What differentiates these AR games from others is that these games will be a lot more advanced, sophisticated and use a big area for game play. There are also two social services that Sony are pushing in Vita called Party and Near. Party lets you voice chat with friends on the Vita at anytime, even if you’re playing different games while near lets you see all your Playstation Network friends status’s and what they’re playing (or have played). You will also be able to see if their are other Vita gamers in your proximity and invite them to play a game. Finally you can also unlock gifts, or give gifts to your PSN friends.

Another big feature Sony talked about was sharing save files between your Vita and the PS3 and cross-platform play which basically mean you’ll be able to play head-to-head between the Vita and PS3. They showed us a demonstration when one of their Wipeout 2048 game designer who was using a Vita raced against a producer who used a PS3.

Sony is holding a PlayStation Vita event tomorrow in Dubai where they will be previewing their new handheld gaming system to the media. I was invited to attend the event but since my brother is a bigger gamer and runs his own gaming blog he’ll be going instead.

The event schedule is going to be the following:

11:00am: Media arrive and are greeted by PS VITA event staff11:45am: Media are taken around the different stations for a quick tour12:00pm: Event staff offer light food and refreshments12:30pm: Sony PlayStation ME representative welcomes everybody, explains a bit about the USP’s of VITA and introduces SCEE speaker and game developer12:45pm: Presentation starts followed by panel discussion and Q&A with all speakers1:45: Post presentations one on one interviews1:45 – 4:00pm: Hands-on with Vita

Since he’ll be having an extensive hands-on session with the device and attending the Q&A session, if anyone has any questions about the PS Vita or is curious about something leave it in the comments below and he’ll try to get them answered for you.

According to the Lurkerz blog the PS Vita is now available in Kuwait in Rihab complex. According to his post the PS Vita (Wifi+3G) with two games is being sold for KD230 and KD180 without any games. For more information check out his post [Here]

Digumz is helping KACCH (Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital) collect video games (PS3 & Xbox360) for children all around hospitals in Kuwait. The idea started on the United Nations Universal Children’s Day but they’ve now made some adjustments to their campaign to make it even easier for people to donate games. Here are the options available:

Option 1 If you have 5 or more games you would like to donate (used or new), you can call Digumz on 25733040 and they will come by and pick up the games from you. If you have less than 5 games you can still donate them but you need to drop it off yourself at their store in Salmiya.

Option 2 You can purchase games from the Digumz Online Store by using the coupon code UNCHILDREN. When you use that code you will automatically get a 10% discount and the games will be accepted as a donation for the children and held at the store with the rest of the donated games before being sent out to KACCH.

Note: The coupon code works on PS3 and Xbox360 games only since those are the two systems available to the children. Also, the coupon is entered at “Step 5″ in the payment process. You need to enter the coupon if you want to donate the games.